———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle - kinshipcircle [at] accessus.net
Date: Sat, May 10, 2008 at 9:21 PM
Subject: [GULF COAST] On The Streets, Since Katrina

KINSHIP CIRCLE ANIMAL DISASTER AID NETWORK
Networking resources for animal disaster victims + companion animal campaigns
www.kinshipcircle.org/disasters

5/10/08: Afraid On The Streets, Since Katrina

IN MAY GULF COAST NEWSLETTER:

1 - Where Are Turtle & Blue, Katrina’s Lost? (But Seen!)
2 - Highlights & Updates
3 - Stranded Cats Of Lakeview Still Need Homes
4 - Donations Aid Anti-Dogfighting Effort In Louisiana
5 - Help Neglected Dogs in Rural Mississippi
6 - Join MuttShack At Disaster Response Summit
7 - NOLA: Katrina Animal Memorial 2008 (Be There!)
8 - $1 Million In Grants For Post-Katrina Animal Care
9 - LA/SPCA Expands Low-Cost Spay/Neuter Services

(more…)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle - kinshipcircle [at] accessus.net
Date: Wed, May 7, 2008 at 1:33 PM
Subject: Eight Belles Ran For Her Life…And Died

KINSHIP CIRCLE PRIMARY - PERMISSION TO CROSS-POST AS WRITTEN

5/7/08: Eight Belles Ran For Her Life…And Died

FROM KINSHIP CIRCLE / PLEASE READ:

We ordinarily write all SAMPLE LETTERS. However in the recent death of young Eight Belles in the Kentucky Derby — we cannot out-write the magnificent letter PETA’s Ingrid Newkirk sent to presidential hopeful, Hillary Clinton. Ms. Newkirk’s letter is presented as a sample letter below:

1. CHANGE AS MANY WORDS AS POSSIBLE, TO MAKE THE LETTER YOUR OWN.
Include a DISCLAIMER as shown (BELOW). Remember: You are NOT Ingrid Newkirk.

2. KINSHIP CIRCLE BELIEVES HORSE RACING, LIKE DOGFIGHTING AND COCKFIGHTING, SHOULD BE OUTLAWED. However, if you’d like to participate in a campaign that calls upon “the racing industry to suspend the jockey and trainer, bar the owner from racing at the track, and… stop using young horses susceptible to horrific injuries…” PETA provides a web letter here: getactive.peta.org/campaign/eight_belles/iiwn8g8227xnmxix

Kentucky Horse Racing Authority
4063 Ironworks Pkwy, Building B; Lexington, KY 40511
ph: 859-246-2040; fax: 859-246-2039
email: lisa.underwood [at] ky.gov, jim.gallagher [at] ky.gov

LEFT PHOTO: Track personnel try to hold down Eight Belles after the 134th Kentucky Derby Saturday, May 3, 2008, at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. Eight Belles was euthanized after breaking both front ankles following a second-place finish in the Kentucky Derby. (AP Photo/Brian Bohannon)
abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory?id=4784855

RIGHT: Eight Belles and trainer Larry Jones walk before the Derby.
news.bostonherald.com/sports/other_sports/horse_racing/view.bg?articleid=1091901

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———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle - kinshipcircle [at] accessus.net
Date: Sat, May 3, 2008 at 5:26 PM
Subject: ACT/ Stabbing Pigs To Teach Human Surgery?

KINSHIP CIRCLE PRIMARY - PERMISSION TO CROSS-POST AS WRITTEN

5/3/08: Stabbing Pigs To Teach Human Surgery?

EMAIL kinshipcircle [at] accessus.net FOR WORD DOC OF A FORMATTED LETTER.
Easily modify letter and copy/paste it into an email or print out to fax or mail.

Pigs used in laboratory research. This photo is NOT from Hartford Hospital.

(more…)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle - kinshipcircle [at] accessus.net
Date: Mon, Apr 28, 2008 at 4:43 PM
Subject: ACT/ Tell NIH Animals Don’t Smoke

KINSHIP CIRCLE PRIMARY - PERMISSION TO CROSS-POST AS WRITTEN

4/28/08: Tell NIH Animals Don’t Smoke

EMAIL kinshipcircle [at] accessus.net FOR WORD DOC OF A FORMATTED LETTER.
Easily modify letter and copy/paste it into an email or print out to fax or mail.

LEFT: This monkey was used in an experiment in which pregnant females are injected with nicotine in order to observe its effects on their fetuses’ lungs. PETA

RIGHT: Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) experimenter Eliot Spindel has been killing infant monkeys (like Thimble, pictured here) in nicotine studies for 24 years. IDA

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UPDATE, 4/28/08:

There’s now a petition going at The Petition Site: Abused GSD Being Denied Justice. Southern Cross German Shepherd Rescue is posting updates there, so go sign it and check back for more information.

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle - kinshipcircle [at] accessus.net
Date: Sun, Apr 27, 2008 at 9:29 PM
Subject: Justice For Hannah [KC MEMBER ALERT]

KINSHIP CIRCLE ANIMAL DISASTER AID NETWORK - PERMISSION TO CROSS-POST
The following information is brought to you courtesy of Kinship Circle.
Please DO NOT hit reply!

Respond directly to: nlgsdrescue [at] yahoo.com or carol [at] justfurkids.com

ALERT FROM KINSHIP CIRCLE MEMBER:
4/27/08: Demand Charges For Hannah’s Life Of Abuse

ALERT FROM / REPLY TO:
Becky Kaase, North Louisiana German Shepherd Rescue, Founder
nlgsdrescue [at] yahoo.com * nlgsdrescue.petfinder.com/
Humane Society of Louisiana, Lincoln Chapter President, humanela.org/

Carol Murphy, carol [at] justfurkids.com

BACKGROUND / EDITED FOR LENGTH:

FULL ACCOUNT: Abused Former K-9 Handler’s Dog Is Denied Justice

Hannah, a 4-year-old German Shepherd was formerly owned by a Tattnall County, GA, K-9 handler. From a very young age, Hannah was used as a breeding machine, confined until her muscles atrophied, starved and neglected. When deemed no longer useful, she was surrendered to an animal control facility in Reidsville, Georgia (about 75 miles southwest of Savannah, in Tattnall County) with orders to euthanize her.

At the time of her surrender, Hannah (known then as Haunna) was in horrific condition. She’d been starved and was severely emaciated at only 41 lbs. Her pads were so wounded that she walked on her haunches. Her fur was rubbed off in many places due to confinement. She was also pregnant and gave birth to three stillborn puppies while at the animal control facility.

On February 7, 2007, Southern Cross German Shepherd Rescue saved Hannah. On her way to a vet, she began to bleed — mostly from giving birth combined with her extremely poor physical condition. A statement from the vet:

Today, I examined Haunna (now Hannah), an approximately 4-year-old GSD. During the examination, it was noted Haunna is severely underweight. On a typical scoring scale, with 3/5 being a normal, healthy weight, Haunna is a low 1/5. This type of body condition is typically only noted in dogs suffering from long-term cancers or long term starvation. No signs of neoplasia (cancer) were noted in Haunna. Haunna had hair loss on her caudal thighs consistent with long term kenneling, skin disease, or both. If you have any questions, or other information I can provide, please don’t hesitate to call.

Sincerely, Will Baldwin, DVM, Cornelia Veterinay Hospital Cornelia, GA * 706 778-6605

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———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle - kinshipcircle [at] accessus.net
Date: Sun, Apr 27, 2008 at 12:35 PM
Subject: Cancel Charity Bullfight, May 3 [KC MEMBER ALERT]

KINSHIP CIRCLE PRIMARY - PERMISSION TO CROSS-POST
The following information is brought to you courtesy of Kinship Circle.
Please DO NOT hit reply! Respond directly to: miguel.moutinho [at] animal.org.pt

ALERT FROM KINSHIP CIRCLE MEMBER:
4/27/08: Ask Portuguese Fire Fighters To Cancel “Charity Bullfight,” May 3

ALERT FROM / REPLY TO:
Miguel Moutinho | ANIMAL, miguel.moutinho [at] animal.org.pt

BACKGROUND:

The Portuguese Fire Fighters League seems to persist in having its so-called “charity bullfight,” on 3rd May, near Lisbon, Portugal, to raise funds to build the “Fire Fighters House.”

Bullfights are extremely violent spectacles which consist in harassing and torturing 6 bulls just for fun, as part of a tradition which is no longer accepted by the majority of the Portuguese society (despite the lawful standing this spectacle still holds) and which could never be justified under any possible moral grounds.

It is absolutely shocking to know that the organisation that represents fire fighters, nationwide, in Portugal — and which holds “a life for a life” as its motto — is involved as the beneficiary and co-promoter of this “charity bloodshed.” It is also disappointing to see that, despite the many hundreds of emails sent from people across the world and from within Portugal to this league, this institution has not even bothered to respond — while keeping its programmed bullfight.

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———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle - kinshipcircle [at] accessus.net
Date: Tue, Apr 22, 2008 at 7:53 PM
Subject: ACT/ Horses Face Eradication In Nevada

KINSHIP CIRCLE PRIMARY - PERMISSION TO CROSS-POST AS WRITTEN

4/22/08: Horses Face Eradication In Nevada

EMAIL kinshipcircle [at] accessus.net FOR WORD DOC OF A FORMATTED LETTER.
Easily modify letter and copy/paste it into an email or print out to fax or mail.

LEFT: Wild horses graze outside Virginia City on July 6, 2004.
Photo by Cathleen Allison/Special to Review-Journal
www.lvrj.com/news/17543794.html

RIGHT: www.best-horse-photos.com/Wild-Horses.html

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———- Forwarded message ———-
From: In Defense of Animals - takeaction [at] idausa.org
Date: Mon, Apr 21, 2008 at 9:49 PM
Subject: World Week for Animals in Laboratories is Here!

World Week for Animals in Laboratories is Here!

Call-In Days: Urge NIH to End Cruel Animal Experiments

Many people find this hard to believe, but the U.S. government continues to sink millions of dollars each year into funding cruel and outdated experiments on animals to test the effects of nicotine and tobacco. Please join IDA during this week’s observance of World Week for Animals in Laboratories (WWAIL) to call attention to this outrage and speak out in opposition.

IDA’s Up in Smoke campaign highlights the futility and inhumanity of nicotine experiments on newborn and pregnant animals. These are some examples:

- Since 1992, Elliot Spindel at Oregon Health and Science University delivers steady doses of nicotine to pregnant monkeys through pumps implanted into their backs. The babies are cut out of their mothers’ wombs in order to dissect their lungs.

- At Texas A&M University, Ursula Winzer-Serhan forces baby rats to consume nicotine mixed with baby formula at the equivalent of three packs of cigarettes a day. After about a week of being fed nicotine, the babies’ heads are cut off and their brains are dissected.

- Researcher Kent Pinkerton at University of California, Davis, subjects pregnant rhesus monkeys to smoking chambers where they are forced to inhale cigarette smoke for six hours each day, five days a week. When the infants are ten weeks old, they are killed by lethal injection and their lungs are dissected for analysis.

Over the past five years, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has given at least $16.5 million to this category of research. This appalling figure does not reflect the total cost of all nicotine research on animals, but only that which focuses on nicotine’s effect on fetal and newborn development.

(more…)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle - kinshipcircle [at] accessus.net
Date: Fri, Apr 18, 2008 at 6:07 PM
Subject: 5/1: NAT’L CALL-IN DAY FOR DOWNED ANIMALS

KINSHIP CIRCLE PRIMARY - PERMISSION TO CROSS-POST AS WRITTEN

When you speak for animals, speak intelligently. You are all they have!

www.kinshipcircle.org/fact_sheets/DownedOnTheFarmPHOTOS.pdf

MARK YOUR CALENDAR: 5/1/08
National Call-In Day To Stop Unspeakable Suffering Of Downed Animals

Electric prods shock the heads, necks, spines and rectums of animals crumpled on concrete. Their eyes blink, but their bodies are limp. Organs have begun to fail. Some have crushed bones, torn ligaments. Still, heavy chains drag them. Forklift blades toss their giant bodies as they moan in pain. Concentrated water jets are fired into their nostrils and throats. “Get ‘em up!” These are downed animals. Suspended between life and death, they are forced to stand for inspection at slaughterhouses like the Chino, Calif.-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Company… Brenda Shoss, Kinship Circle

WHEN: NATIONAL CALL-IN DAY! Thursday, May 1, 2008

WHO: Call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask for your U.S. representative’s and two U.S. senators’ offices.

WHAT: A minimum 30-second call urging your legislators to: “Please cosponsor H.R. 661/S. 394, the Downed Animal And Food Safety Protection Act.”

(more…)

———- Forwarded message ———
From: PETA - newsmanager [at] peta.org
Date: Fri, Apr 18, 2008 at 11:31 AM
Subject: HUGO BOSS to Phase Out Cruel Australian Wool!

Thank you for contacting Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd about cruelty in the Australian wool industry.

We have exciting news to share with you!

Following discussions with PETA—and thanks in large part to activists like you who have helped raise awareness about the mutilation of lambs by Australian farmers—global retail giant HUGO BOSS has announced that it will phase out wool from lambs who have undergone the mulesing mutilation. The company said, “HUGO BOSS disassociates itself from mulesing because it contravenes our corporate values ….”

Please take a few moments to send HUGO BOSS a note of thanks for its willingness to speak up for the millions of sheep who are mutilated each year at the hands of cruel Australian farmers. E-mail HUGO BOSS officials at customerservice [at] hugoboss.com and let them know that you will be telling your friends and family about the company’s compassionate decision.

Thank you for all that you do for animals!

Best regards,

Danielle Katz
Outreach Program Coordinator

If you received this message from a friend, you can sign up for PETA’s Online Community.

This e-mail was sent by:
PETA
501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510
United States

——————-

Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare action alerts peta people for the ethical treatment of animals hugo boss wool Australian Australia lambs mulesing clothing fashion update victory news in the news

Crossposted, with commentary, here.

UPDATE, 5/11/08:

Excerpted from Kinship Circle: [GULF COAST] On The Streets, Since Katrina

RE: 4/17/08 - NEW ORLEANS COP FIRES 8 BULLETS INTO BELOVED DOG

www.kinshipcircle.org/letter_library/letter_new.asp?LetterID=1735

KINSHIP CIRCLE received the “thank you” below from Dr. Patrick Coleman, the Lakeview, New Orleans resident whose dog Jax was needlessly slaughtered by police in his fenced backyard.

From: Patrick Coleman, wpcoleman [at] gmail.com
Date: Sat, 3 May 2008 / Subject: Thank you Re: Jax

Thank you so much for the information posted regarding Jax, my 4 year old Doberman, who was shot and killed by a police officer responding to a false burglary alarm at my home on April 14, 2008. With so many people writing letters, blogging, posting… I only hope that his death brings about change as his life did for myself and everyone who met him.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart in memory of Jax, Patrick

W. Patrick Coleman IV, M.D. / 4425 Conlin Street; Metairie, LA 70006
Office: 504-455-3180; Fax: 504-885-2512

————————-

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle - kinshipcircle [at] accessus.net
Date: Fri, Apr 18, 2008 at 3:18 PM
Subject: CORRECTION/ Cop Fires 8 Bullets Into Beloved Dog

1. FAX NUMBERS from City Of New Orleans website for Superintendent Warren J. Riley and Orleans Parish District Attorney were incorrect. CORRECT FAX NUMBERS are inserted in original alert below (shown in RED). [Kelly’s note: I have updated the original alert to include the correct fax numbers.]

2. To send Mayor Nagin comments:

– Go to main home page: www.cityofno.com/
– Click on: “Contact Us” at very bottom of page.
– On Contact Us page, scroll to “Select A Department” drop-down menu.
– Select “Mayor’s Office” and hit “Go.”
– Your browser page will refresh, showing a security code you need to submit comments.

3. Several people have asked, but Kinship Circle does NOT know (at this time) the private email address or other contact information for Dr. Patrick Coleman, whose Doberman Jax was slaughtered by an NOPD officer.

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle - kinshipcircle [at] accessus.net
Date: Thu, Apr 17, 2008 at 5:27 PM
Subject: ACT/ Cop Fires 8 Bullets Into Beloved Dog

KINSHIP CIRCLE PRIMARY - PERMISSION TO CROSS-POST AS WRITTEN

4/17/08: New Orleans Cop Fires 8 Bullets Into Beloved Dog

EMAIL kinshipcircle [at] accessus.net FOR WORD DOC OF A FORMATTED LETTER.
Easily modify letter and copy/paste it into an email or print out to fax or mail.

Jax, the black Doberman on the left, was shot and killed by police responding to a burglar alarm that proved to be a false alarm.
www.findinternettv.com/Video,item,302619517.aspx

(more…)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle - kinshipcircle [at] accessus.net
Date: Tue, Apr 15, 2008 at 11:23 PM
Subject: ACT/ Red Tape Keeps Animals In U.S. Labs

KINSHIP CIRCLE PRIMARY - PERMISSION TO CROSS-POST AS WRITTEN

When you speak for animals, speak intelligently. You are all they have!
www.kinshipcircle.org/fact_sheets/

DOWNLOAD THIS FACT SHEET: www.kinshipcircle.org/fact_sheets/VivisectiLessonFutilityPH.pdf

DOWNLOAD THIS FACT SHEET: www.kinshipcircle.org/fact_sheets/MODSacrificOneWontSaveOther.pdf

4/15/08: Red Tape Keeps Animals In U.S. Labs
ICCVAM’s Legacy Of Inertia

EMAIL kinshipcircle [at] accessus.net FOR WORD DOC OF A FORMATTED LETTER.
Easily modify letter and copy/paste it into an email or print out to fax or mail.

(more…)

If you need some background on the issue, PETA’s original alert is available here, and a previous update is available here.

For more on humane methods of mouse control, please see a series of articles I wrote on the subject:

How to Tell If There’s a Mouse in Your House (Article 1 of 3)

How to Mouse-Proof Your House (Article 2 of 3)

Spare the Snap-Trap and Have Mercy on the Mice (Article 3 of 3)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: PETA - newsmanager [at] peta.org
Date: Mon, Apr 14, 2008 at 10:30 AM
Subject: Lowe’s Insists on Selling Cruelty; ‘Modified’ Glue Traps Are Repackaged Torture

In response to your calls and e-mails, Lowe’s has issued a statement claiming that the company will “only carry the products [glue traps] that contain Eugenol [clove oil], which is an anesthetic.” Don’t be fooled! Such “modified” glue traps are a shameless attempt to dupe consumers. They are still glue traps that kill animals slowly through starvation and dehydration. These glue traps show absolutely no evidence of reducing animal suffering. In fact, they cause as much suffering as—if not more than—standard traps.

Please continue to push Lowe’s to stop carrying all glue traps. Please call and fax Lowe’s today and tell the company that caring consumers strongly oppose the use of glue traps and will not patronize Lowe’s until the company removes all glue traps from its stores and issues a statement vowing never to sell them again.

Please send polite comments to:

Patti Price, Senior Vice President
704-758-2394
704-757-0593 (fax)

Robert A. Niblock, CEO
704-758-2084
704-757-0542 (fax)

(more…)

UPDATE, 4/17/08:

If you’re interested in learning more about this issue, local CBS affiliate KGWN has a number of updates and videos here: www.kgwn.tv/index.aspx

Hat tip to The Animals Voice!

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: SHARK Update
Date: Thu, Apr 10, 2008 at 11:28 PM
Subject: Matchbox Twenty Speaks: We won’t make money from animal abuse

Thanks Matchbox Twenty!

Dear Friends,

As we told you earlier this week, Matchbox Twenty will not be performing at the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo after viewing SHARK’s video footage of last year’s Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo and other rodeos.

A press release sent out today, April 10th, states:

Regrettably, Matchbox Twenty will not be able to perform at Cheyenne Frontier Days on July 18. After careful consideration it was decided that the participating in this event would directly contradict the mission statement of SIDEWALK ANGELS FOUNDATION, our non profit organization.

The other members of matchbox twenty support this decision and while we understand that a great deal of effort went into planning of this show, and apologize to any and all fans who purchased tickets to see us, we ask that they please understand that it would be impossible for us to put ourselves in the position of making money from what we believe to be the mistreatment of animals.

Sincerely,

Rob and Marisol Thomas and The Sidewalk Angels Foundation

SHARK is truly impressed and sincerely appreciative of Rob and Marisol’s dedication for the animals. They not only withdrew from CFD, but also provided a public statement as to why.

(more…)

One of my least favorite things about presidential elections - aside from the bitter partisanship, the misogyny and racism, the fear of additional conservative Supreme Court Justices, and the loss of my very personhood, of course - is all the dogdamn pandering to the redneck hunting lobby. (C’mon, like anyone took this seriously. Pffft!)

This cycle, it’s Hillary who’s selling out her humanity for the “sportsmen’s” murderer’s vote. Clinton’s comments of this morning, made in response to Obama’s comments of April 6, are what set me off, but in searching for the exact quote on teh internets, I found quite a few references to her Duck Hunter days. (See, I can condemn the misogyny directed at Hillary without blindly throwing her my vagina vote. Nay, nay, nay boiz!)

Here’s Clinton on February 18:

“I’ve hunted. My father taught me how to shoot,” she told a crowd at the Labor Temple in rural northern Wisconsin. “I remember standing in the cold water. It was so cold, you know, at first light. I was with a bunch of my friends, all men.

“And they all were playing a trick on me, and said, ‘We’re not going to shoot, you shoot,’ ’cause you know what they wanted to do. They wanted to embarrass me.

“So the pressure was on. So I shot, and I shot a banded duck.”

Awww! Isn’t that special. I think I’ll vote for her, because she’s snuffed out at least one life in the name of sport. She’ll be perfect to take over the war in Iraq!

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